


Bark From The Past

by Azure_Umbra



Series: Bro-Bao Bao [7]
Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anger, Brother Feels, Brotherly Angst, Brothers, Estrangement, Family Reunions, Fights, Gen, Hatred, Team Dynamics, This story takes inspiration from Episode 10 - Bao Bao's Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23954980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azure_Umbra/pseuds/Azure_Umbra
Summary: The inevitable reunion between the two sons of the Mao Clan has arrived. Is there any hope for the brothers' fractured bond to be mended, or will it go as well as one would expect?
Relationships: Bao Bao & Mao Mao Mao, Bao Bao/Mao Mao Mao
Series: Bro-Bao Bao [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518473
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	Bark From The Past

**Author's Note:**

> -To all of you who have been reading my series, thanks so much! I'm sure this story's been a long time coming! I sincerely hope you enjoy.-

“Okay, let’s see. I take another turn here and go past that, then…”

Bao Bao squinted his eyes as he examined every inch and corner of the paper map in his paws, even arching an eyebrow while rotating the map diagonally left and right before even looking at it upside down. He was sure that the entrance to, or at least the first signs of, Pure Heart Valley’s borders were just over the next rocky ledge; it was hard to tell ‘that’ rocky ledge apart from other rocky ledges, considering they were all covered with pine trees in this convenient ocean-sized sea of forests.

The bipedal Shiba Inu frowned as he scanned the whole periphery. _“I better not be lost,”_ he groaned inwardly. It was painstaking enough asking people around him every minute or so, both in his hometown and in regions beyond, where Pure Heart Valley was. He thought it’d be easy after waiting a bit for people to realize it was back on the map and start incorporating it into future maps to be sold in shops and stalls everywhere. He just didn’t think people were that slow at said task.

Pushing his way through a thick layer of shrubbery, Bao Bao climbed over a pebble-covered slope to pass by an opening to a dark and spacious cave. He looked to his side to notice it, pausing wistfully at the strangely familiar sight which made him linger on a set of lost memories drifting in the obscure recesses of his mind like a vaporous ghost.

_“Mao Mao! Let me help you!”_

_“No! You helped enough, you traitorous dog! Stay away from me!”_

_“Mao Mao! Come back! I’m sorry!”_

_“No! Shut up! I hate you! I’ll never forgive you!”_

Bao Bao lowered his eyes. Honestly, he never wanted to do what he did to his big brother, his only brother. He didn’t like doing such things, but what else could he have thought of? Mao Mao, as his big brother, was the one who knew more than him, the one who knew better – he was the hero whom the dog wanted to be like, the one whose decisions he trusted with his life. Bao Bao didn’t ask nor want to be the one entrusted to make the kind of life-or-limb calls as any experts and grownups normally did. If anything, it should have been Mao Mao or even his father Shin Mao making the choice of cutting off Bao Bao’s tail.

Bao Bao was forced to make the hardest grownup decision, and boy did he make the wrong choice…Could a dog like him fail any harder?

He yanked his gaze away from the cave mouth, never mind that he was briefly assaulted with the thought of the monster from back then being in there waiting for him to walk in and let himself be devoured just to achieve any sort of reparation for his not-really-fratricide. That thought was momentarily interrupted when the dog stumbled over a loose rock, knocking it over and sending it rolling down the equally gravelly slope with a cacophony of crackles.

It was when Bao Bao’s ears then flicked at the sound of a recognizable roar echoing from the cavern’s depths that his eyes widened and his breath hitched. He slowly and hesitantly turned towards the direction of the source, frozen where he stood as he witnessed the footsteps getting louder and the form charging towards the cave opening becoming more distinct as it drew closer to the light. It looked all too familiar to him.

_“Oh no…”_

* * *

Back at the Mao household, the family matriarch had just put away the last of the giant bladed weapons on the nearby rack in the storage room next to the dojo when her ears perked up at the sound of ringing. Knowing she was quite a distance away from the nearest phone, she made her way to the open dojo area first before tensing her legs and leaping forward into an immediate sprint. Going down a hallway and scanning left and right at the rooms on either side, she skidded to a halt upon spotting the ringing phone, stopping her slide with one of her hands and then making a last dash to the phone.

“Hello,” came the first word out of her mouth once she picked up the receiver.

_“MOM! MOM, QUICK!”_

“Bao Bao, is that you?” mom managed to answer after pulling the receiver away from her ear, the sudden loudness making her painfully wince a little. “What’s wrong?”

_“No time to explain! I need you to call Mao Mao again NOW! Please!”_

“O-okay, but…what’s happening?”

_“Monster trouble! I’m very close to the Valley! I’ll tell you later!”_

Before mom could gasp at what she heard and try to ask any further, she made out her son giving her a rapid _‘gottagobye’_ before the line went dead, apparently having hung up on her. Steadying her nervous breathing while trying to push away the immediate pileup of worrying questions, she turned her concentration to the one thing she could do at the moment. She took out her mobile phone and dialed a familiar number, one belonging to her other son who seemed reputable for deciding his own time of day when it came to his own family.

As she held the phone to her ear and listened to the dialup tone, she tried to breathe easy knowing that she was still his mother. _“No saying ‘no’ this time…”_ she thought.

* * *

At the palace of King Snugglemagne, Mao Mao was at a loss. For one thing, he didn’t expect another family call so soon, especially when he was in the middle of sheriff duty, but it was another thing to suddenly get a text from his mom on his phone typed in all caps telling him to call back ASAP. He wondered if the answering machine back at HQ was chock-full of voice messages by the time his mom contacted his cell. But of course, based on his hero’s instincts, he could feel in his gut that his mom’s manner of aggressive contact meant it was an emergency and he needed to get back to her as quickly as he was able.

Not wasting any more time, the black cat pressed the saved contact number on his phone screen and held the phone up to his ear, waiting for his mother to pick up as he listened to the dialup tone. As soon as he heard the click, he got ready to give her a friendly hello, but his voice got caught in his throat the moment his mom spoke, or rather exclaimed, first.

_“Mao Mao!”_

“Uh, hi mom. What’s the matter?” Mao Mao greeted hesitantly, feeling a little nervous about what’s gotten his mom in such an emergency.

_“No time to explain! Just listen! There’s a monster coming to Pure Heart Valley, coming your way! You have to get ready for it!”_

A monster? Mao Mao arched an eyebrow in confusion at hearing something so innocuous, at least to him. “O-okay, thanks for the heads-up, mom! But is that what this is about? Haha, I mean, I can fight back any monster that takes the Valley by surprise, and I’ve already told you all about it-…”

 _“It’s not just about that!”_ his mom interjected. _“Listen! B-”_

An echoing and reverberating roar rang across the Valley air, causing Mao Mao’s ears to twitch from picking up the sound. “Sorry mom, looks like you were right!” he stated. His eyes narrowed in vicious anticipation as he looked out the castle window in the direction of the roar, a toothy smile gracing his maw. Briefly turning his full attention back to his phone, he ecstatically addressed his mom in his low growly warrior’s voice, “Call you back after I take care of this.”

 _“Mao Mao! Wai-!”_ ***beep***

Mao Mao pressed his thumb on his phone screen to end the call. He swiveled around to dash to the aerocycle while calling out to Badgerclops and Adorabat to get a move on.

* * *

“There it is, Mao Mao! Over there!” Adorabat exclaimed through her helmet over the wind, pointing at the site of the monster’s rampage down below.

The monster was spotted in the town square at the front gate of the Valley, having already smashed through the double doors and was now stomping around and scaring away Sweetypies. At that moment, Mao Mao knew he was going to relish this, not simply because it was another monster to fight, but because he recognized the monster from the way it looked. The turquoise four-legged reptilian look, the serrated spiked tail, the frilled fins on its neck, the scar on its right eye…those four things told the black cat everything.

“The monster from the cave!” he growled with glee as he rapidly landed the aerocycle on the pavement and leapt off the seat, heading straight for the beast with Adorabat and Badgerclops right behind him. He remembered that beast all too well – it was the monster that roamed the cave that housed the mythical Amulet of Borflagon, a magical trinket that displayed the holder’s most precious memory. He remembered having encountered the monster shortly after picking it up before trying to flee the cave shortly after, with his partner–

Mao Mao shook his head, trying to refocus his concentration on fighting the monster. Now was not the time to be reminiscing or daydreaming. Brandishing his golden sword, Mao Mao let out a battle cry and sprinted forward at the monster with the sword’s tip pointed ahead, aiming to harpoon his weapon into its scaly hide. The monster swung its tail and blocked his strike. Both Mao Mao and the monster parried each other strikes, with Mao Mao taking a jump back every time he used his sword to defend himself.

Adorabat was already flying around the monster, distracting its eyes while Badgerclops moved in with the laser weapon in his mechanical arm charging up. Unfortunately for them, the monster somehow sensed what Badgercops was about to do and swung around like a weighted pendulum, slamming its tail into both Badgerclops and Adorabat and sending them flying into the square’s fountain.

“Guys!” Mao Mao cried out, a hand reached out to where both his friends landed. He whipped his head back to face the monster with a new wave of ferocity, his fangs bared towards the beast for what it just did. Mao Mao swung his sword just as the monster was widening its jaws over the black cat, catching its teeth with his blade and using it to jam the creature’s mouth open like a misplaced toothpick. Mao Mao wrestled with the monster as it still tried to move in on the black cat. He could only hold it back for so long.

“You’re a…worthy adversary,” Mao Mao grunted through the strain and pressure as he held his stance, “but all monsters…are destined…to fall by my –…” The monster swung its head to the side, throwing Mao Mao to the side since he was still holding on to his sword. Mao Mao tumbled and rolled across the brick pavement, his sword clanging on the surface a distance away from him. Mao Mao pushed himself back off the ground to try and get back to his sword, but one split-second look behind him already told him that the monster would catch up to him before then. His eyes widened, perhaps in fear, at the possible impending demise coming his way, but he still had to make it to his sword. _“Just a little further now…”_ was all he could tell himself until…

“AAWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

Mao Mao caught a glimpse of the monster suddenly getting knocked off its feet by a flashing peachy-brown blur. He gasped, his eyes widening.

After grabbing his sword and getting back onto his feet, he fixated his gaze on the mysterious interloper who just came to his aid. There was something about that blur’s colors that seemed familiar to him, and it became clear as the daytime sky the moment the blur stopped moving. Is that – ?

“Dude, where’d that guy come from?” Mao Mao swiveled around at hearing the sound of Badgerclops’s voice, finding that he had already gotten out of the fountain along with Adorabat.

“Ooohh! He’s helping us? Is he another hero? Cool!” Adorabat cheered.

Both the bat and the badger raced back into the fray, feeling more empowered to continue the fight upon seeing a new fighter save them from certain loss and doom. But Mao Mao was too busy looking at who exactly that new fighter right before him at that moment was.

In that same moment, the whole world had seemed to fall silent, with only his own increasingly rapid breathing and heartbeat being the only sounds he could hear along with those sounds being unusually loud, the rhythms pulsing and grating away at the inside of his ears. His vision zeroed in on the person so concentratedly that everywhere else seemed to fade into darkness, his eyes pried open wider than any shocking moment he had ever went through. His mouth hung slightly open as his breathing then became shallow, partially exposing his two upper fangs.

The mysterious but recognizable fighter then shouted at the monster, his voice shocking Mao Mao out of his momentary stupor. “Oh, you like that? Back for more? Me too!”

Knowing what, or rather who, he just heard, Mao Mao shook his head violently to get his head back in the game. Seeing Adorabat and Badgerclops fighting again without him was what reminded him what he was supposed to be doing right here, right now. Not hesitating, Mao Mao jumped back in to dish more hits against the creature, carefully dodging its strikes while cutting away at its scaly hide with his blade at the same time. All in all, he knew he could beat the monster, just like any other monster he’s fought, especially since he had prepared long and hard for this second round.

At least until he simultaneously heard the familiar voice directed at the monster again, “Yeah, take that! No one buries me and gets away with it, big bone!”

_No! Stop talking! I don’t want to hear you, anything from you, right now!_

The monster swung its tail around, but the fighter used his giant broadsword to bat the appendage away. The monster snarled in displeasure, leaving it open to another of the fighter’s taunts. “Oh, you want it? Come and get it!”

_I said stop talking!_

The monster roared. “Oh, scary!” the fighter laughed. “You’re lucky you’re not in a cave! You’d get squashed!”

_Stop it! Shut up!_

The fighter leapt for the monster’s face. “Nice thing on your eye there! I’ll give you another to match!” The fighter’s sword was aimed for the monster’s eye, poised to strike, to cut–

_Shut up! Shut up!_

“Hey, over here!” Hearing his yell, the monster turned to look at the dog. It was looking…looking at him…

_‘I need you to look at me for a sec’…shutupshutup…‘Let me help you’…No! Shut up! SHUT UP!...‘Bro, come on’…SHUT! UP!...‘Let’s go home’…GRRR!...‘Come back! I’m sorry!’…NO! YOU TRAITOROUS DOG! I HA- I’LL NEVER-_

“RRRAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!” Mao Mao raised his sword and bellowed out a fierce berserker cry as he charged up his fiery golden aura. Once his energy had been built up enough that its shockwaves were felt by Adorabat, Badgerclops, the monster, and the new fighter, Mao Mao streaked towards the monster like a burning meteor and plowed right into its body, sending the creature flying into the Valley’s border wall connected to the front gate and crashing into the brickwork with concussive force, blowing several bricks off the structure in the process.

The dust had settled shortly after, the monster lying on the ground dazed as Mao Mao huffed and puffed to gather his breath after performing his impressive short-burst display of raw strength and power.

“Wow, Mao Mao! That was so cool! How’d you do that?” Adorabat squealed in delight.

“Yeah dude, how do you keep doing that?” Badgerclops joined in. “Keep it up and maybe I don’t have to fight monsters anymore…”

Mao Mao looked at his two friends, feeling a little relieved that they were okay and that they saw his heroic act. He just remembered there was a third person who was watching too.

“Bro, did you really do that?” the new fighter, now made clear to the Sheriff’s Department that he was some kind of bipedal Shiba Inu, was skipping right over to Mao Mao excitedly, “That was like, super! How’d you get so good after all that –?”

He didn’t get to finish that question when he spotted Mao Mao’s eyes contorting in a piercing, simmering, and cold-but-rapidly-heating glare, his pupils flaring with the same flames that were left over from his previous attack on the monster. An increasingly feral growl was climbing out of Mao Mao’s throat as he now completely focused on the dog right in front of him.

“…yyoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Adorabat and Badgerclops, who were watching nearby, were starting to sweat nervously, wondering what was up with their friend right now.

Likewise, the Shiba Inu was sweating even more intensely as Mao Mao zoomed right for him and stopped just inches from his face with a finger pointed between his eyes, the trailing cloud of dust coalescing around both cat and dog. “Uh, bro?” he tried to squeak, but his ‘bro’ wasn’t having any of it.

“How dare you show your face to me again after what you did!” Mao Mao began to yell. He swung his sword and brandished its tip right at the dog’s face. “You got some nerve showing up after all this time! If you don’t get out of here right now, Bao Bao, I’ll –”

“Uh, guys?” Badgerclops interrupted, prompting everyone to turn their heads to the monster that was now getting back onto its feet.

“What?” the dog now made known as Bao Bao to Mao Mao’s deputies gasped as he held his huge sword at the ready once again, “How is this thing still kicking? What kind of monster is it?”

Mao Mao, on the other hand, felt a little angrier at his tirade being interrupted. He growled as he bared his teeth and repositioned his sword, though not before briefly looking back at Bao Bao, who noticed. “I’ll deal with you after!”

The four heroes then charged right at the monster again. Badgerclops and Adorabat were much more careful this time around; Badgerclops stayed light on his feet while keeping his eye on the monster with his arm cannon held pointed at the target while Adorabat flew in wider loops to ensure the monster couldn’t reach her at all. Mao Mao steadily used carefully aimed and timed sword strikes that he charged with his inner strength each time, pounding away at the monster’s side and then moving back again in a pattern like a superpowered stapler. Bao Bao was dive-rolling around under the monster, weaving around its legs while giving disabling slashes of his own, making the monster stumble continuously.

However, despite their combined and adapted efforts, the monster just didn’t seem to want to go down. _“This is so irritating,”_ Mao Mao thought to himself, _“I could do this all day, but with **him** here…”_ A roar from the monster snapped him out of his thoughts. He wondered what sort of ultimate moves or attacks he could use to drive the monster off for a good while, if not for good. He scanned the surroundings to try and formulate a plan, but when he couldn’t find any usable vantage points, he spotted a random brick on the ground. He then briefly looked at Bao Bao fighting the monster as he picked up the brick. _“I can’t believe I’m doing this!”_ he mentally facepalmed. “Hey, Bao Bao!”

Bao Bao turned to look at his elder black cat brother calling out to him, holding a brick in his hand. Mao Mao continued, however pained he was to say it, “Remember that trick we pulled on the Alley-Tigrangsters back home?” Bao Bao took a second to process Mao Mao’s question, but then his ears perked up when he did recall what he was asking.

“Oh! That?” Bao Bao yelled back, sliding away from the monster and taking a charged stance on one end of the plaza grounds.

Seeing Bao Bao do that prompted Mao Mao to launch the brick into the air. “CATCH!” he hollered.

Likewise, Bao Bao sprang up into the air with such force that the ground below him caved in, creating a crater. Bao Bao flew towards a nearby lamppost and bounced off it, sending him zipping towards the monster and hitting it. Right after that, he bounced right off the creature and streaked vertically into the sky, catching the brick as it fell. As he began a rapid descent, the dog curled into a ball and pointed a shoulder towards the monster below with the brick held up against that shoulder. The monster looked up to find itself pounded into the ground by Bao Bao’s landing.

As soon as it was down, Bao Bao did a somersaulting leap off its back and landed on his feet. But the monster wasn’t out yet. Forcing itself back onto its feet and shaking the dust off its head, the monster gave another roaring snarl.

Badgerclops and Adorabat had stopped what they were doing when they saw what Bao Bao had done moments before, what he and Mao Mao did together just moments before. Both of them were wide-eyed.

The monster charged at the cat and dog. “Next trick!” Mao Mao said to Bao Bao, “Volley-Beavers, market madness!” Bao Bao nodded, knowing all too well what memory his brother was referring to.

Letting Mao Mao take both his hands, the black cat heaved his little dog brother into the air and spun around before letting go, sending him towards the same lamppost that Bao Bao used for the last trick just moments before. Bao Bao grabbed on to the pole and spun around, doing so hard enough that the lamppost came off its foundation, causing both of them to spin in the air back towards Mao Mao. Mao Mao jumped up and grabbed the spinning pole too, positioned right beside Bao Bao as they flew right at the monster, causing it to get pummeled in the face by all three parties like a sawblade-pendulum-hammer-top.

“Monkey-Bed!” Mao Mao and Bao Bao utilized rapid fisticuffs on the monster’s belly after it fell on its back from the daze of being hit knocked silly by the lamppost.

“Harpoon-Honey!” Bao Bao delivered a dropkick to the monster’s gut with Mao Mao curled around his feet acting as an impromptu wrecking ball.

“Speed-Bumper!” Both brothers pointed their backs to the sky right as the monster rolled over them, causing it to bounce up from impact.

At the same time, Adorabat and Badgerclops were watching from behind a bush. “Wait, so that’s Bao Bao?” Adorabat asked Badgerclops. “He looks cuter than what Mao Mao said.”

“You got me,” Badgerclops replied. “I’m just wondering how they’re working together so well if things between ‘em are so bad.”

Downing the monster again, Mao Mao took a second to come up with another trick to send it packing. He was interrupted by Bao Bao speaking to him again. “Wow! They all still work!” Bao Bao got closer to his brother as he praised him. “You really know how to get ’em good, bro!”

“Enough!” Mao Mao barked, pushing the dog away. “Now, let’s see if this guy’s…dressed to impress! Take ‘em to the ball!” Instantly, both the cat and dog got to work did a series of dropkicks and super punches at the monster’s limbs, forcing them together in tangled up knots that the beast was curled up into a ball.

“Game point!” Bao Bao yelled after he was done, doing a spin kick that sent the entangled monster hurtling in the air towards Mao Mao. Mao Mao readied his sword again and took a powerful swing at the monster like a baseball bat. The monster’s rolling briefly ground against Mao Mao’s blade, but Mao Mao pushed back, giving a powerful battle roar before punching forward his final swing, sending the monster flying away across the trees, fading away into the horizon.

Seeing that the monster was finally gone and that the battle was over, everyone let out a long breath, able to relax at last. Badgerclops and Adorabat came out of the bush and went over to the two brothers, mainly to see if Mao Mao was all right but also out of slight curiosity in getting to see his brother for the first time.

Mao Mao and Bao Bao were hunched over slightly, panting from the spectacular fight they both just performed.

Bao Bao managed to catch his breath first, turning to look at his older brother. Somehow, he felt nostalgic, warm, and he’d daresay happy when Mao Mao brought up all these old tricks the brothers came up with when they were younger. Witnessing how both of them were still able to remember how to perform those maneuvers in tandem after all this time, Bao Bao felt a small warm glimmer in his chest, like a small resurging whisper telling him not to give up. It felt nice enough for him to make the first move.

“Hey bro,” Bao Bao said, placing a hand on Mao Mao’s shoulder, “You ok– …”

His hand was painfully swatted away by one of Mao Mao’s hands. Holding his own hand as he winced, Bao Bao saw that Mao Mao’s hostile expression had returned, his fangs bared for him to see while pointing his sword at the dog once again.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Mao Mao growled. “You thought I forgot about earlier?”

“Um, uh, bro – I mean – Mao Mao…I’m really sorry,” Bao Bao stammered, holding up both of his hands to avoid aggression. “I-I know it’s been a long time and –…”

“Not long enough if you ask me!” Mao Mao snarled, thrusting his sword at Bao Bao’s face so fast that the dog fell over right onto the ground from moving backwards. “I might have fought together with you out of necessity, but don’t think for a second I wasn’t waiting for you to stab me in the back!”

Right behind Mao Mao, Badgerclops and Adorabat were staring agape at the sight. They might have been about to join in, but seeing Mao Mao’s wrathful behavior put a stop to that.

“M-Mao Mao, I didn’t mean-” Bao Bao tried to speak, his emotions scattered everywhere in his mind, but he was unable to string up a sentence at the very moment.

Mao Mao narrowed his eyes, moving the tip of his sword closer to Bao Bao’s neck. “Why did you come here, huh?” he interrogated with a low gravelly rumble in his voice. “Why’d you come to Pure Heart Valley?”

“Um, Mao Mao?” Adorabat tried to step in. “Maybe you shouldn’t…”

“Not now, Adorabat,” Mao Mao lifted a hand behind him. “I got a traitor to question.”

He looked back at Bao Bao who seemed to look quite frightened. “Was it me you were after? You wanted to see the Ruby Pure Heart you’ve heard so much about?” Bao Bao said nothing, prompting Mao Mao to inch his sword even closer to the point that the tip was now touching the skin of the dog’s neck. “Did you come here to gloat?” When Bao Bao still couldn’t come up with an answer, Mao Mao’s eyes widened slightly. “Ooohh, I get it,” he slowly nodded his head and said in mock-amazement, “That’s why mom called me. _You_ put her up to this, just like the last time she called!” A contemptuous smile crept across the cat’s features while he gave a little bitter laugh. “Who would’ve thought the cowardly mutt would stoop low enough to get dear mom to do his dirty work.”

“Dude, stop! This isn’t you, man!” Badgerclops stepped in and grabbed Mao Mao by the shoulder, pulling him away when he detected that his sword appeared to be much too close to the dog’s vital area.

“Stay out of this, Badgerclops!” Mao Mao exclaimed angrily.

Bao Bao immediately scrambled back onto his feet and moved away as quickly as he was able to watch Mao Mao being the way he was at the moment. He hoped he could put a little distance between himself and his currently angry brother, but only took a couple steps when Mao Mao wrested himself free from Badgerclops and pushed his free hand directly at Bao Bao’s throat, encircling his fingers around the dog’s neck.

“You’re running away?” Mao Mao exclaimed while pointing his sword at Badgerclops to keep him away. “Oh sure, why don’t you, papa’s little puppy? Scamper off with your tail between your legs while I, on the other hand, don’t even have one anymore!”

“Mao Mao!” Bao Bao choked, trying to pry his brother’s hand off his neck. “I’m sorry…for your tail…I didn’t know…dad…”

It was that last word that made Mao Mao absolutely furious. Growling like a beast, Mao Mao threw Bao Bao forward and released his grip on the dog’s throat, not giving any attention to his brother nearly falling to the ground again.

Bao Bao looked at his brother to see that he was now just standing still, his head looking down at the ground and his sword hanging limply at his side. He couldn’t see Mao Mao’s eyes due to the shadow on his face, but he didn’t need to think any more to get a hint of what Mao Mao was feeling.

Mao Mao calmly spoke again, the hostile aggressive tone completely drained away with most of his energy. “This changes nothing between us. Just go. Get out of my sight.”

Bao Bao was wordless. He felt empty. He felt like he had to feel something when he heard Mao Mao say that to him. How could he just stand there? He should be sad. He should be crying. He should be angry. Just…feel something! “Mao…Mao…” he croaked once he managed to find his voice again, “…I’m sorry…”

“Sorry doesn’t get my tail back…or my trust in you,” Mao Mao glowered, his tone not rising once. He slowly raised his sword to point it at Bao Bao again. “If you really are sorry, get lost. Unless you’d like a tail stump to match mine…”

Bao Bao, and even Badgerclops and Adorabat, could say nothing. Keeping his slowly falling gaze on Mao Mao, Bao Bao gradually backed away and then turned to hurriedly walk through the destroyed gate and past the outer wall into the forest ahead, leaving the Valley grounds.

Mao Mao watched as he left, and once he knew his once-little brother had vanished, lowered his sword and turned back towards the town square. He somberly began trudging forward, listlessly moving further back inside the Valley.

Badgerclops and Adorabat looked at Mao Mao worriedly before momentarily looking at each other in hopes of getting some kind of help or advice on how to resolve this in whatever way was possible. “Uh, Mao?” Badgerclops managed to call his friend’s name first, though he had to push the word out of his hesitant self.

“Let’s go,” was all Mao Mao said.

* * *

Just a few inches into the forest that stood in front of the Valley gate, Bao Bao sat with his back against a tree, hidden so that no one knew he was even there. Pushing his knees up to his chest, he lifted one of his hands that was curled into a semi-fist to open it, exposing the golden locket resting in its grip, a blue ribbon tied around its main ring. He opened it to gaze upon the image inside, and he sat and stared at it for a little while, giving a little sigh.

_“Well, that could’ve been better…”_


End file.
